PEDDLING THE WORD OF GOD:

 Understanding the Meaning of "Peddling the Word of God"

Greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I am writing to share a reflection on a vital scriptural warning found in 2 Corinthians 2:17, where the Apostle Paul declares, "Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit."

In the Apostle’s time, to "peddle" meant two specific things that remain highly relevant today: diluting the message to make it more palatable, much like watering down wine to increase profit, and treating the ministry as a form of merchandise for personal or financial gain.

In our modern age, this temptation is often subtle. It manifests when the goal of a ministry shifts from magnifying Christ to building a personal platform, or when the truth is softened to avoid offending others or to gain popularity. As members of the Jesus Christ Royal Believers Way Saints Global Fellowship Ministries, we must remain vigilant. We are called to present the Word of God in its full, unadulterated power, ensuring that we never use the Gospel as a means to an end.

Our mission is to remain faithful, sincere, and transparent, ensuring that we decrease so that Christ may increase. I encourage you to join me in this commitment to protect the integrity of the Gospel.

May we always strive to let our light shine, not for our own glory, but so that others may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

In His Grace,

Senior Apostle & God's Nations Messenger

Elder James R. Winfree Sr.

Founder, Jesus Christ Royal Believers Way Saints Global Fellowship Ministries

We are not a religion or a denomination, nor do we support the construction of physical church buildings. Instead, our mission is to build up the body of our Lord God, Jesus Christ, through love, grace, and mercy. We are dedicated to aiding, helping, and supporting the members of the Jesus Royal Believers Way Saints Global Fellowship as they carry out ministries that serve the body of Christ and His Kingdom.

We believe that being in the Church is more than simply attending services or holding membership. We are His living temples, and He manifests His works through us as we seek to meet the needs of the Saints first, and subsequently all others, in accordance with His divine will. This is the heart and mission of the Jesus Christ Royal Believers Way Saints Global Fellowship Ministries.

We don't go, attend, join, become a member of, or have Church. We are His living temples and Church, and He manifests His works through us in meeting the needs of His body, the Saints first and then all others according to His will. This is what we are as Jesus Christ Royal Believers Way Saints Global Fellowship Ministries.

We are the Lord Jesus Christ's total body, every member working together in love and unity and guided by the Holy Spirit and God's new and better way. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ, with love, grace, and peace. Our message today explores 2 Corinthians 2:17, where the Apostle Paul writes, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”

Apostle Paul was distinguishing his ministry from the many self-proclaimed preachers of his day who sought personal gain. This issue, which caused the Corinthian church to question the motives and credentials of Paul and his colleagues, remains a relevant warning for us today. Just as those individuals in Corinth used slick marketing to provide an inferior, diluted product, we must remain vigilant against any tendency to compromise the integrity of the Gospel for the sake of popularity, profit, or human agenda. We are called to present the Word of God in its full, unadulterated power, ensuring that Christ alone is magnified and that we remain faithful servants sent by Him.

We don’t do that with the word of God. We do not peddle the word of God, and we’re certainly not looking for any financial gain or other kinds of gain.” So what, what did this actually mean in the Apostle Paul’s day? And I want to briefly then touch on what this idea of peddling God’s word means in our day by so many here on this social worldwide media, Christian radio stations, Christian television, and many of your religious services!

What does it mean to peddle the word of God for profit? In Apostle Paul’s day, one of the connotations of the Greek word that Elder Paul uses there for peddling has to do with dilution. And Brother Paul was speaking about people who would take wine and water it down to get the highest possible return from an inferior product.

So you can kind of begin to put together what he might be talking about here about peddling the word of God. He’s talk and water it down to get the highest possible return froming about diluting it. He’s talking about people who water it down and rob it of its full potential and power. Another connotation in Apostle Paul’s day of this idea of peddling the word of God, that Greek word for peddle, also has to do with merchandising. Is this not ringing a bell in your minds in our day everywhere you turn? It's all about money.

And so Apostle Paul is describing religious preachers and people who are just always trying to sell you something. It doesn’t matter how they go about doing it. It doesn’t matter who they hurt in the process. All they’re trying to do is to get one over on someone else in order to merchandise something and to make a profit and benefit from it.

So those two connotations give us a pretty good understanding of what Apostle Paul might be talking about in terms of the people in Elder Paul’s day who were diluting the word of God and were robbing it of its potential and power and were trying to sell it. And Teacher Paul is saying, “We don’t do that. I don’t do that.” Apostle Paul is saying, “This was a problem among many, unlike many,” he says. In Elder Paul’s day, this was an issue.

And Apostle Paul’s saying, “I have been entrusted with the word of God, and I am giving it to you full strength here. I’m not trying to rob it of its power or its potential. I’m not trying to make you feel better by watering down the power of its message. We don’t do that.” Paul says, “I don’t do that. I’m giving you the word of God.” Now, what might this mean then in our day?

This is not simply a first-century issue. This is something that exists. And Paul is saying this problem exists not out in the world. This is something that exists within churches. And churches can have this happen. Ministries can have this happen if we’re not careful. And I want to suggest to you that this can come up in a very subtle way.

Sometimes it’s not very overt. I know when believers think about peddling the word of God, the image might come up of some flashy televangelist or someone on TV who is saying, “If you invest in my ministry, then God will bless you.” Sometimes it’s not that obvious, though. Sometimes it subtly infiltrates a ministry.

But ultimately, what it means in our day to peddle the word of God for profit, if we take what it meant in Apostle Paul’s day and apply it to today, would be anyone or any ministry or any Church that takes the gospel, the message about Jesus Christ or God’s word, and sees it and uses it as a means to some other type of end, rather than seeing the gospel and the word of God as an end in and of itself. So, for instance, one of the applications would be when the goal shifts for a minister or for a church or a ministry,

when the goal shifts from making Christ known to making myself known, building up followers; my image really, really matters; that applause matters. When the shift begins towards, what am I getting out of this? And how can I make myself known and give myself a platform? Then we begin to start moving towards this idea of, I believe, peddling the word of God for profit in the way that Elder Paul is sort of describing.

That’s not to say that people with a high-profile ministry are all corrupt and they’re peddling the word of God for profit. Again, this is subtle. This can happen where a person is saying, “Yes, I want to elevate Jesus’ Name, but I’d also kind of like to elevate my name at any cost. And I’m going to measure my own success as a minister or as a ministry by the number of people who come to my Church or the number of people who endorse my ministry.” That is a subtle way, I believe, that we might start, and keep this bible truth in mind, that no human owns the Church. Only Christ Jesus.

Moving then towards, um, peddling the word of God. And it’s a dangerous area. Another possible application that we could see would be when truth is diluted, okay, to gain popularity or in order to gain followers. So this is people who might use the word of God and water it down so that people aren’t upset when we talk about sin or when we talk about hell or when we talk about God’s judgment or God’s wrath.

These are uncomfortable topics for people to talk about. And so it is very easy then for a person who is delivering the word of God, teaching it in any format, no matter how many people they have, to begin to water it down to make God’s word say something else. And what we’re doing then at that point is we’re robbing the cross and the gospel of its power if we start moving in that direction.

And so the danger is that a person would begin to see the gospel of Jesus as some kind of moral improvement plan or some kind of self-fulfillment plan or being all about my happiness. And that’s not what the gospel is simply about. Paul is saying, “Let’s not do that, friends.” Another, uh, application here is when we treat the, again, the gospel as a means to an end rather than an end in and of itself, is whenever faith is used for financial or political gain.

So when might that happen? Well, this is when we manipulate people for perhaps donations, or we use God’s word to advance a political agenda. Again, this is not always so overt. This can be very, very subtle within any of us; myself, any church, any ministry can fall prey to doing this. So what do we say about this?

What is the opposite of peddling the word of God for profit? The opposite would be faithfully and sincerely, um, not peddling the word of God for profit, but instead speaking truthfully, speaking sincerely, not manipulatively, not trying to manipulate people, refusing to twist scripture to fit our own personal agendas. Not peddling the word of God and being a faithful ministry and a faithful church would involve serving sincerely, but not transactionally, loving people even when it brings no personal

gain or reward. It also means following the example of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus didn’t try to market himself. Jesus, taking the word of God, sought to explain the word of God. He was the word of God. He embodied the word of God rather than trying to advance his own personal agenda. He was there, sent on assignment by the Heavenly Father, and that’s what Jesus Christ was about. And so we need to take a position like that of John the Baptist and others who would say, “May Jesus Christ increase and may we decrease.” Allow Christ to be revealed or manifested in our bodies.

Simply that we want to make much of him and then also make much of ourselves. It is saying, “We need to fade into the background and get out of the way so that Jesus, uh, his ministry, his greatness, who he is, his character, his integrity is what is seen and not us.” He is who is on display: the gospel, the power of the gospel to save us, to rescue us, to reconcile us to God.

That is what matters most. I hope this reflection has been meaningful to you, as I have been deeply contemplating my own ministry and the necessity of guarding against the temptation to peddle the Word of God. I desire to remain faithful and never dilute the power of the Gospel, and I trust that you share this same commitment.

Thank you for joining me for this important study of the Scriptures. Amen.

Sincerely, Senior Apostle & God's Nations Messenger, Elder James R Winfree Sr, Visionary.

Founder & Senior Apostle & Messenger, Jesus Christ Royal Believers Way Saints Global Fellowship Ministries.

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Amen.

Romans 13:8

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

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